In maintaining a hospital bed in a clean, smooth and comfortable condition, it is necessary to make the bed daily and occasionally to change and replace the sheets and draw sheets even more frequently. Typically, the sheets are first placed on the bed and then tucked under the mattress which requires lifting the edges and ends of the mattress. Making beds in this manner is time consuming and can cause considerable back strain. It is especially difficult for the person making the bed, as well as uncomfortable for the patient when an occupied bed must be changed.
It is known to use various fastening materials, e.g., multiple buttons, zippers, hooks or snaps on bedding and on mattresses to secure and facilitate positioning of the bedding on the mattress. These systems propagate, however, the inconvenience of lifting the mattress to put the sheet on and bedding with these fasteners has never proven commercially viable. The use of hook and loop fastening material on bedding and on mattresses to facilitate the positioning of the bedding is known. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,766 (to Grandy), U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,602 (to Fernandes), U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,832 (to Di Forti et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,133 (to Gilreath for releasable attachment), U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,504 (to Ainsworth), U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,958 (to Carris for buttoned down sheets), U.S. Pat. No. 3,066,321 (to Kintner), U.S. Pat. No. 3,066,323 (to Kintner), U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,743 (to Smith), U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,827 (to Kintner), all of which have several disadvantages. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,251 (to Lazar) which circumvents the various disadvantages found in the other bedding systems. The Lazar '251 patent is not, however, directed to a hospital bedding system. The mattress has attachment points on the side surfaces and end surfaces, with the bottom sheet being attached to the side surfaces and the top sheet being attached to the foot end surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,323 (to Colburn) discusses the disadvantages of using conventional unfitted or flat bedsheets on beds, i.e., difficulty in making the bed, especially with bedridden patients, and wrinkling which can cause irritation and promote the formation of bedsores. It also discusses the advantages of fitted sheets but points out their disadvantages, i.e., tearing at the corners and difficulty in making the bed, particularly hospital beds when it is not possible to move a patient to change the sheet. The '323 patent discloses, in the preferred embodiment, a bedding system which has strips of hook or loop fastening material encircling the sides and ends of the mattress or alternatively only the sides. The strips are placed one above the other and matching strips of loop or hook material attached to underside of the sheets near the edges. The bottom sheet is smaller than the top sheet and the strip of fastening material on the bottom sheet is attached to the upper strip of fastening material on the side of the mattress. The strip of fastening material on the top sheet is attached to the lower strip of the fastening material on the side of the mattress. This system is both costly and impractical. It is costly because the hook or loop material encircles the major portion of the mattress. It is impractical. Making beds by mating large areas of hook and loop material is both difficult and time consuming since whenever the materials inadvertently touch, that area must be disengaged and repositioned.
The draw sheets presently utilized by most hospitals are unsatisfactory. Often the practice is to fold and refold a conventional sheet to the desired size and shape and then place the folded sheet in the center of the bed in order to enhance patient comfort while also serving as a protective pad and as a means for transferring a patient from a bed onto a gurney. The process of placing a conventional draw sheet on a hospital bed requires tucking in a substantial amount of fabric beneath the mattress at each side of the bed. This is especially difficult when the bed is occupied due to the weight of the patient. In theory, the idea is good and quite satisfactory while the patient remains quiet and in a prone position. In practice, it is a failure. If the patient is unusually active or as soon as the bed is elevated to a sitting position, the draw sheet tends to slip and bunch-up, becoming an irritant rather than a comfort, possibly causing or aggravating bed sores problems.
Thus, there exists a substantial need for an improved hospital bed sheet mounting system which overcomes the problems and drawbacks discussed above. A system is needed which allows a bed to be made quickly, which eliminates lifting the mattress along the edges to tuck sheets under the mattress, and which still allows the mattress to be turned end for end and side to side without affecting the operability of the bed sheet mounting system. There also exists a need for a bed sheet mounting system which can be used by the physically handicapped and the blind and which eliminates the need to lift the mattress or move the bed away from a wall. There also exists a need for an improved draw sheet.